Art After Hours held its grand opening last Thursday, where attendees painted mini-canvases provided at the event and visited exhibitions at the Pomona College Museum of Art.
Gavin Turek, Scripps College graduate, opened the show. Turek and TOKiMONSTA (musician Jennifer Lee) performed their collaboration “Little Pleasures.” Security was forced to hold the crowd back at the front of the stage, prompting TOKiMONSTA to briefly interject the set with, “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but on the real, please don’t knock my shit,” upon which laughter erupted throughout the crowd.
Jessica Wimbley, one of the organizers of Art After Hours, spoke passionately about making Art After Hours a “catalyst for creative thinking.” Wimbley said that the mobile video game theater was a new addition along with the painting stations. The organizers’ main goal this year, according to Wimbley, is to engage with the community on a greater scale. Wimbley added that another new effort this year will be a student committee to get a different perspective on Art After Hours.
Despite certain changes, Art After Hours is continuing its partnership with KSPC. Wimbley said that KSPC has been great with handling the live music aspect of Art After Hours.
The full turnout at the first event suggests that the program’s efforts to engage the wider community have been effective thus far.